Old Style Porter

St. Peters Brewery
Suffolk, England
Imported by: Eurobrew
Ashland, MA

Available: nationwide

St. Peter’s Brewery opened in an ancient country hall in the east of England just over a decade ago. The beers are packaged in distinctive oval bottles copied from one from Gibbstown, near Philadelphia, which dates from around 1770.

ABV: 5.1
ABW: 4.0
Color: 80-100
Bitterness: 35-39
Original gravity: 1051

One sip and I'm transported to a dark, woody British corner pub. This porter seems like it should have been served at my imaginary pub for at least a century, although the brewery has only been around for a dozen or so years. Even the (green) bottle and labeling have an "old world" feel to them, having been inspired by a bottle used by a brewery in Philadelphia around the time of the Revolutionary War. The color is a deep mahogany, with a very fervent head that eventually settles down a bit to a lacy, tan skiff. Aromas of coffee, cherries, chocolate and toffee greet the nose, but don't hint at the very agreeable bitterness that comes at you at first sip, joining the dance with flavors of dark fruit, coffee and confections. This is, indeed, an old English porter, with some decidedly new-world flair. PS—Try using the Old-Style Porter to deglaze the pan while caramelizing onions for a burger. The onions come out deee-lish!
- Lisa Morrison

This light-ruby-colored creation comes from a brewery based at an ancient country hall in the east of England and it is aptly named. It's a beer that leads porter back to its roots—the brewers take a young ale and blend it with one that has been aged for some time. What turns out is a mellow, sweetish, smooth beer with milky cappuccino and nutty, bitter grain flavors that drinks rather light for its strength. Some of the creaminess lingers on into the dry finish, where burnt grains provide a firmly bitter conclusion. Smooth and very enjoyable.
- Jeff Evans

Lisa Morrison
Morrison, aka the Beer Goddess, writes about beer whenever and wherever she can and also gets to talk about it on a weekly radio show in her hometown of Portland, OR.

Jeff Evans
Author of the Good Bottled Beer Guide and The Book of Beer Knowledge, Jeff Evans is an eight-time editor of the CAMRA Good Beer Guide and one of Britain's best-known beer writers.

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